


Lessons in Conflict Resolution (Or How to Deal With Bullies Santana Lopez Style)

by dealan



Category: Glee
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-19
Updated: 2010-06-19
Packaged: 2017-11-04 20:06:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/397717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dealan/pseuds/dealan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt Hummel just got tossed into a dumpster again. Santana is not pleased. Post-Theatricality, pre-Funk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lessons in Conflict Resolution (Or How to Deal With Bullies Santana Lopez Style)

**Author's Note:**

> For [](http://nimuu.livejournal.com/profile)[**nimuu**](http://nimuu.livejournal.com/) who requested Kurt and Santana friendship fic on the [](http://glee-fluff-meme.livejournal.com/profile)[**glee_fluff_meme**](http://glee-fluff-meme.livejournal.com/)

David Karofsky is a dead man.

First, nobody calls Santana Lopez a freak. Her Gaga outfit was _*smoking*_ hot, thank you very much and like anyone with eyes would complain about her walking around in a black lace body suit.

More than that, nobody calls _*Brittany*_ a freak. She had to spend twenty minutes reassuring Brittany that the lobster on her head looked awesome, wasting valuable time they could have spent making out. She hates it when that happens.

But most of all, nobody touches a Cheerio and gets away with it.

When Brittany tells her that Karofsky tossed Kurt into the dumpster after their early morning practice, something in her snaps.

So what if Kurt is gayer than a dolphin in a shark tank? He's a Cheerio. That automatically makes him better than everyone else at this school. They work damn hard to be the best, suffering through strict diets, endless hours of practice, and a constant state of fear that Coach's wrath will strike at any moment. And with Nationals approaching, Coach has been even more ruthless with non-stop practices to whip them into shape. Santana has never worked so hard in her life. They've _earned_ the right to be treated like royalty, especially her, Ladyface and Britt who are also balancing dance numbers for Glee.

Plus, even she has to admit he has an impressive voice. She'd like to see anyone else attempt to sing fourteen straight minutes of Celine Dion in French. And the boy did let her in on his night time skin regiment, which is AMAZING. It's doing wonders for her complexion, and her hands are the softest they've ever been. Britt's right. They do feel like baby hands. Santana even finds that she doesn't mind trading fashion tips with Kurt. Some of his fashion choices are completely off, but not everyone can be as naturally awesome as she is and he actually shows some great potential.

She'd never admit it out loud, but between Glee and Cheerios, Kurt has become one of _her_ people. That someone would dare to lay a finger on one of them is unacceptable. Allowing this to continue sends a dangerous message that it's okay to mess with them. With her.

Screw waiting for Finn and Puck to take care of it.

Santana is ending this NOW.

~

She waits until the halls are crowded before she comes up beside Karofsky and shoves him, hard. The force with which he slams into the locker stuns the people around them into frozen shock.

(It's a trick her Papi taught her. She's not a big girl, but she's fast and stronger than she looks and when they don't have time to react, she can usually get the drop on anyone. He's just lucky all she wants is his attention.)

"What the hell, Lopez?!" he sputters.

"Stay away from my teammates," she snarls.

Karofsky's eyes widen slightly, before darting around to see the small crowd that's witnessing their exchange. Oh good. An audience.

"What are you talking about?"

"I know your mom dropped you on your head a lot as a baby, but try to keep up. This morning. Hummel. The dumpster. "

"Oh that. Whatever," he snorts. "The homo was asking for it. We warned him to stop dressing up like a girl all the time. All those scarves and shit."

"I don't care if he wears a fucking dress to school," she says, poking him hard in the chest. "Don't.Touch.Him.

He swats her hand away. "Man, first Finn, now you. What is up with you Glee club freaks?"

"I know, right, Dave? Has all that singing warped your head that you'd actually defend with that loser, Santana?"

Santana whirls around to see what idiot has decided to chime in. To her delight, it's the other half of the Brothers McStupid, the football player who's always hanging out with Karofsky. Perfect. She likes it when they make it easy for her.

"And I suppose you'd be the expert on losing, Azimio, seeing as how your team only won one football game last season," she says, flicking her ponytail and laughing with an air of condescension that's taken years to perfect. "Oh and who won that game for you again? Oh right. Hummel. No wonder he ditched you for our far superior squad. We're internationally ranked. You're pathetic."

She glances back at Karofsky. "And don't get me started on the hockey team. You're even lower on the totem pole," she scoffs.

Her mouth twists into a sneer as a murmur passes through the crowd. "Now, I get that the idea of being on a winning team is super hard for both of you, so I'm going to use small words."

She raises her voice for the entire hall to hear. "And this goes for all of you morons, so listen up! Hummel is off limits. No trips to the dumpster. No beating him up or shoving him into lockers. If even a drop of slushie hits him, I'll make sure you'll never get a date in this school again. If he gets so much as one bruise on his body, I'll send Stacey, Sandy, Marcie and Liz after you and TRUST me when I say, you do not want to deal with four seniors whose scholarships depend on Hummel being at his best for Nationals."

Santana leans closer to the flustered jocks and smiles menacingly. "Oh and Karofsky? If you _ever_ call me a freak again, I will end you. Clear?"

The crowd parts immediately as she turns to cross the hall and link arms with Brittany. In the distance, she can see Coach nodding in approval. Being top dog is awesome.

She shoots Karofsky and Azimio a look of disdain as she and Brittany saunter past them. At the very last second, she grabs the slushie out of the hands of a passing freshman and tosses it at Karofsky. She misses most of his face, but she nails the side of his head, and in a way that's better. He'll be cleaning slushie out of his ear all day.

"You crazy bitch!" he calls out to their backs as they walk away.

Santana shares a smirk with Brittany, not even bothering to look back. Like her Papi always said, move fast, strike hard and come at them sideways. That way they never see it coming.

~

She sees his approach out of the corner of her eye but she continues to ignore him even when he sits in the chair in front of her and turns around.

"I heard what you did to Karofsky," Kurt says quietly.

Maybe if she keeps filing her nails and doesn't look up, he'll take the hint and go away.

"Thank you, Santana. I -- "

Santana is saved from this Hallmark moment by Mr. Schue clapping his hands together in that idiotic way he does. Any moment now he's going to start talking about some random theme he pulled out of the air because heaven forbid they come up with an actual set list for Regionals and practice it for more than a week before competition. Seriously, sometimes she wonders if Mr. Schue gets the concept of preparation at all.

"Solidarity," he announces to the club. "Who can tell me what this means?"

"Standing up with your friends to sing at a pep rally," Quinn answers, sending Mercedes with a smile.

Artie reaches for Tina's hand. "Spending three hours in a wheelchair to understand someone's point of view."

"Dressing up in a shower curtain to prove a point," Finn chimes in.

"Stopping mean people from beating up Kurt by throwing slushies in their ears," Brittany says confidently.

Everyone turns and stares at Santana.

"What?" she barks after a moment. She crosses her arms and shifts deeper into her seat, scowling. "I didn't do it for Kurt, okay? I did it because no one touches my team."

Mr Schue beams with pride at her statement.

"Plus, he insulted Brittany," she mutters. Kurt smiles at her knowingly. Santana rolls her eyes. "Are we going to get to the singing or not?"

Mr. Schue goes on to explain the assignment, which inexplicably leads to a near shouting match between Rachel and Mercedes over the merits of _Newsies_ and whether it counts as an actual musical. The club starts to take sides, and then Matt shocks everyone by offering a third opinion. As the chaos enfolds in front row, Brittany links pinkies with Santana and lays her head on Santana's shoulder.

"Thanks for yelling at Karofsky, San. You're a good friend."

Santana allows a genuine smile to creep onto her face. "I know."

~

The next day, she opens her locker to find an unsigned note that reads, "Thank you," in Kurt's girly handwriting. Clipped to it is a gift certificate for two free tanning sessions.

Santana grins in spite of herself.

She was right. The boy definitely has potential.

 

[ _finis_ ]

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction - all events and actions are completely made up. Absolutely nothing in this story should be taken as fact. This original work of fan fiction is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/); attribution should include a link to this Livejournal post.


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